Jaxon's Restaurant & Brewing Co. (Closed)

7410 Remcon Cir.
El Paso, TX

Jaxon's is one of El Paso's oldest and more well known restaurants, with east and west side
locations. Both restaurants have microbreweries that are among the most popular in the city,
and serve several varieties of the house brand of beer. Quality control is pretty tight, and I have
not noticed any differences in the food between the east and west locations. It is more Southwest
than traditional Mexican food, but I would say the Mexican plates are a big part of Jaxon's business.
I have always thought the restaurant on Airway was larger, but it may only seem to be so because
of the large outdoor patio.

Because of the fact that Jaxon's is an El Paso institution, most locals have eaten here countless
times--most likely for business meetings or office parties. In fact, I don't think most people go
because they think it serves the best food in town--it mostly serves as a place that almost everyone
can find something on the menu that they enjoy, prices are not too bad, drinks are served, and the
quality is much better than chain restaurants that provide the same type of atmosphere (of course
I cannot speak for the majority of customers--this is only my observation).

Probably the standout item is the Tampico Chicken, a chicken breast with Monterey
Jack cheese, mushrooms, and green chile strips, along with a side of two enchiladas (the
enchiladas at Jaxon's are not particularly noteworthy, however).

While New Mexicans debate about the best green chile cheeseburger, an excellent chicken
version is found at Jaxon's in El Paso

This green chile chicken is also served in the Tampico Chicken Sandwich without the
enchiladas, and the taste is just as outstanding as on the regular dinner plate. The chicken is
good enough to impress me but the green chile is the reason to order the sandwich. While green
chile cheeseburgers are excellent in various restaurants throughout New Mexico and the
Southwest, this chicken sandwich at Jaxon's is probably just as notable (and I do not know of
another restaurant that serves a sandwich that is comparable).

The curly-Q fries are an excellent compliment to the chicken, and are one of my major
temptations to go off a healthy diet.

Black Bean Burgers are served as a substitute for hamburgers, and are spicier than
most (but taken by themselves the black bean patties is not the most outstanding ones I have tried).
By special request, though, the patties can be served with green chile, cheese, and mushroom
toppings to make it tampiqueña style (like the chicken sandwich). My preference is the
chicken, but the veggie burger is also outstanding with this particular topping.

The Fajita Chicken Salad is also pretty good (better than most, except that the salad
dressing is not very exciting).

The Tortilla Soup is renowned, but I did not find it to be outstanding.

Outside of a few standout items (I have not tried enough dishes to know what all of the best items
are) the quality goes downhill, and I think Jaxon's is for the most part a pretty ordinary Southwestern
style restaurant. By "quality" I mean mostly that many items are fried or do not have flavor
combinations that make them outstanding.

Be forewarned that if you like appetizers, or even chips and salsa, they and the drinks are at
exhorbitant prices that offset the relatively modest prices of the entrées.

The microbrew is pretty good, but I have tasted better (I would probably have to use Minnesota
and Wisconsin as the benchmark). Overall Jaxon's is pretty good for Southwest style food. The
green chile is not as spicy as most of the ones in New Mexico, but it is just about as flavorful. I would
say anything here with green chile is the best bet.